Updated at 9:40 a.m., Friday, November 1, 2002

Hanauma opens under starlight

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

At recent open Saturday night at Hanauma Bay, some people swam and others walked the shore. The city wants Saturday nights there to be primarily for local residents. Ron Slausen • Special to The Advertiser

HAWAI'I KAI — Encouraged by two successful evening forays, the city will open Hanauma Bay every Saturday night with an emphasis on getting more local residents to experience the nature preserve.

The bay is one of the state's most popular attractions, but only about 15 percent of Hanauma's 3,200 daily visitors are local residents. Mayor Jeremy Harris wants to change that.

The goal is to "focus on residents and make it so they don't have to fight crowds," said Harris. "What I'll have the city do is focus on getting the word out to local families. The city won't market to tourists. We specifically want to be more family-oriented."

Weather permitting, the bay will be open 6 to 10 p.m. every Saturday — the first sustained nighttime hours at the nature preserve since 1990. That was the year officials determined that, to prevent damage to the fragile environment, the number of people needed to be limited.

The new local emphasis follows the opening of the Marine Education Center and other Hanauma Bay improvements, which cost the city $16.2 million.

The first Moonlight Swim at Hanauma Bay on Oct. 19 was hailed as a success, despite just a day's notice about the night hours. About 500 people came, many of them residents who had not been to the nature preserve in years, officials said.

During the first two Saturday evenings, Harris said, he saw only several dozen people in the water among the hundreds who attended, while the rest walked on the beach or toured the education center.

The city will charge $1 per vehicle, open the concession stands and information booth for limited hours and have lifeguards on duty. The admission fee is waived for residents with Hawai'i ID. Returning visitors to Hanauma Bay do not have to watch the seven-minute educational video.

The city has not determined the cost implications of the nighttime opening, said Peter Rappa, a University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College marine science faculty member in charge of the education program at Hanauma Bay.

"From the education point of view, we're very happy with the decision," Rappa said. "Saturday evening is a fabulous time for the public to come out."

One resident who took advantage of the night swim at Hanauma is Dick Baker, a former president of the Friends of Hanauma Bay. He raved about the experience, and later talked about the permanent Saturday night hours.

"We'd be concerned if the numbers rose to a point that damaged the ecosystem," Baker said. "And I'd be concerned if the city began charging an entry fee, because it has the potential of becoming a commercial source for new revenues."

As long as the numbers for the night hours don't exceed the daytime average, Rappa didn't foresee any undue damage to the fragile ecosystem the city is charged with protecting. And park rules bar entrepreneurs from starting nighttime snorkeling or diving tours in the bay, he said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.